Direct flights from West Coast to Ireland a tough sell says Continental United

Some business leaders in Silicon Valley have expressed their disappointment at Aer Lingus’s decision not to relaunch direct flights from Dublin to the west coast of the U.S.

John Hartnett, founder and president of the US-based Irish Technology Leadership Group told the Irish Times he was “hugely disappointed” by the Irish airline's decision. He now intends to lobby United Continental about establishing a direct route to Ireland.

Hartnett said he has “reached out” to United Continental.

“We probably now need to be more aggressive,” he told the Irish Times.

“We need to concentrate our efforts on United Continental.”
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United Continental is the newly merged U.S. airline carrier, making it the biggest in the world. It operated flights from Dublin and Shannon to Newark Airport in New Jersey, where a lot of Irish passengers then connect for flights to the west coast.

When approached by the Irish Times about the possibility of establishing the new route a spokesperson from Continental United described it as challenging.

“It requires more resources including fuel and is dependent on there being the right market size locally in order to make it viable.

“At United, we are in the business of being competitive and working to ensure that routes we serve are viable.”